Aníron
by Sihaya
Summary: CHAPTER 2 UP/Aragorn falls in love with a woman from Bree before he embarks on the Quest of the Ring, but this relationship causes complications with his feelings for Arwen. Love Triangle! R/R
1. Dark Stranger

… Aníron…

*

_O môr henion i dhû_

_Ely siriar, êl sila_

_Ai! Aníron Undómiel_

_Tiro! El eria e môr_

_I lir en êl luitha uren_

_Ai! Aníron…_

From darkness I understand the night 

_Dreams flow, a star shines_

_Ah! I desire Evenstar_

_Look! A star rises out of the darkness_

_The song of the star enchants my heart_

_Ah! I desire…_

*****

Before the War of the Ring 

*****

            There was something about the dark stranger that rode into Bree that stormy night. He had a mysterious air about him, as if he was one to be reckoned with. He was dangerous, she was sure. Her eyes narrowed. How she wished she could live a life like this mysterious stranger. 

She sighed and went back to washing mugs. Her arms were soaked to the elbows in suds and the skin was beginning to be irritated and turn red. She wished she had never taken this job at the Prancing Pony, being a waitress of sorts. She'd rather be outside. It wasn't in her nature to wait on people.

The door of the inn opened and the dark figure strode through. She smiled at the irony. It was the stranger she had seen on his black horse, riding into the town. She dropped the half finish mug into the soapy barrel and dried her hands on the holey dishrag. 

She strode over to where the stranger sat and placed her hands on the edge of the table, leaning on them slightly. "Can I help you?" she asked, smiling sweetly. The man's jaw hardened behind the hood of his cloak.

"A pint, please," he said, leaning forward. "What is your name?"

"I have many," she replied shortly. 

The man considered this. "Then I shall call you Ara, if that is to your liking." 

The girl's eyes narrowed. "What does it mean?" she asked, wary of men's tricks. 

"Dawn," the man said simply. "In Elvish." 

"You tell me your name," Ara demanded. 

"You can call me Strider," said the man. Ara stood straight and went to get him his mug. When she returned he was no longer in his seat. Ara sighed harshly and threw the mug back into the soapy barrel. She cleaned it vigorously with a damp rag as she thought about this Strider._ He's strange, and dark_, she thought. _I must find out more about him_.

For in her heart of hearts she was a little afraid of this Strider, and what she was afraid of, she drew closer to. 

*

A/N- okay, I know that this was really short but someone else needs the computer now and I must go (don't be sad!) I hope I got your attention with this, anyway, and I hope you come back and review the next chapter which I will *try* to make extra long to make up for ^this^ disgrace! 

Disclaimer- duh. You know what belongs to me and what does not. 


	2. Shadows Rise

**… Aníron…**

Chapter Two 

Shadows Rise

          Aragorn strode back into the bar a few minutes later. He had gone to rent a room at the inn and had taken longer than he had expected, due to a drunken fool who had dared to cross his bath. Kemina was nowhere to be seen. Strider slid back into the booth that he had occupied before and blended in with the shadows. 

As he sat in the darkness, Strider pondered Kemina's unusual name. Kemina was Quenyan for 'of the earth.' He resolved to ask her when she returned. His eyes scanned the bar for strangers and familiar faces. He spotted Kemina on the other side of the room, catering to a bunch of rowdy pigs that had downed a few pints already. The girl looked agitated, like she was about to explode a wrath of anger. She stomped into the kitchen and came out a few minutes later, balancing a tray of wooden mugs on her palm.

Aragorn waited for her to return from the kitchens that she had once more retreated to, but she did not come back. He sighed and went upstairs to the room he had rented. He extinguished all the candles, on habit, and then slid under the covers after making sure his knife was perched on the bedside table. He fell into an uneasy dream. Strange voices, speaking in Quenyan, shouted at him through the mist. He woke in a cold sweat to a frantic knock on the door.

"Strider! Strider!" the voice called anxiously. Aragorn unsheathed his sword and swung open the door, the inscription on the blade catching fire momentarily with the sudden burst of light from the hallway. "Wain hyandalya," the voice ordered. Sheath your sword

"Kulde," Aragorn said. It was his friend, named for the red color of his hair. Kulde was also a Ranger, and Aragorn had befriended him in the days of their training. "What are you doing here?" 

"There's a group of Orcs nearby," Kulde said breathlessly. "They came upon me, alone. They're heading for Bree."

Aragorn flung his cloak onto his shoulder and mounted his night-black horse. Kulde continued speaking as they rode. "I found Raumo and Rusco in a village nearby," he said.

"How many Orcs were there?" Aragorn asked, his cloak flying behind him like a shadow. 

"Twenty, or more," Kulde said. "I could not take them alone." Kulde was a rookie, a beginner. He had finished his apprenticeship to an older Ranger named Alkar a year and three months past. 

Two horses flew out of the night and joined Strider and Kulde. Aragorn saw that it was the other Rangers, twins, which had joined them. Kulde pointed into a patch of woods and the horses charged into the thicket fearlessly. The Orcs growls could be heard already. They were grouped together, arguing. 

Aragorn plunged into one of the groups, drawing his sword through the five orcs as 

smoothly as a knife passed through butter. Kulde was battling three at the edge of the clearing, and Raumo and Rusco were charging a cluster from both sides. Their swords flashed in the moonlight as they killed the orcs. 

          The leader, a larger, fouler Orc, started running towards the woods, his metal adornments jangling on his chain mail. Aragorn rode up to him, swift as a demon. His horse's hoofs trampled the leader to the ground. It let out a harsh roar of protest as it got to its feet. Aragorn jumped off his horse and circled the stinking creature. He pressed his sword momentarily against his forehead and closed his eyes for a split second before swinging his knife and cutting the Orc cleanly in two. 

          Rusco finished off the last three and the three Rangers stood in their blood soaked clothing as they remounted. The twins disappeared into the shadows, but Kulde tailed Strider until the gates of Bree. "Vanya sulie ya tielyanna," the younger man said. Fair winds be upon your path 

          Aragorn simply raised his hand in farewell and then continued towards the inn. The barroom was silent as he entered it, the barkeeper and all the customers asleep. The innkeeper was snoozing behind his desk as Strider slowly climbed the stairs. 

          "Who's there?" a voice said, cutting through the darkness. A candle flared from behind a concealing hand, and Kemina's face was illuminated. "What are you doing up?" she demanded when she saw the Ranger. Her eyes swept over his blood-soaked attire. "What are you doing in those clothes? Are you hurt?" the first bit of compassion that Aragorn had seen in her since they had met shone in her eyes as she drew closer, her fingers running over his arms, checking for cuts.

          "I'm not hurt," Strider said. Kemina met his gaze suspiciously.

          "What were you doing?" she asked. 

          "Ranger business," he said. 

          "Oh," Kemina said. 

          "What is the significance of your name?" Aragorn said suddenly. Kemina looked at him with a guarded gaze.

          "What does it matter?" she asked. 

          "The meaning is odd," he said. " 'Of the earth.'"

          "I have no parents." Kemina said. "The night is my only family." She drifted back into the darkness and disappeared from view. Aragorn looked after her long after she had disappeared. The secrets of this girl intrigued him, and he was determined to find out more. 


End file.
